Top Facts: Key stats to know ahead of Arsenal vs Man City's FA Cup semi-final

The relentless pace of the Premier League post-lockdown takes a slight detour to Wembley this weekend and Arsenal and Manchester City kick off the first of two FA Cup semi-finals starting on Saturday.

Both sides have endured league campaigns to forget but the FA Cup offers each the chance to at least end the domestic season with some silverware. Arsenal are something of specialists in this competition, having won the FA Cup more times than any other side (13).

Standing in the way of Mikel Arteta's side from progressing to the final is holders City, who are strong favourites heading into Saturday's meeting even with star striker Sergio Aguero on the sidelines.

In the build up to their second meeting in the space of just over a month, here are five facts you simply have to brush up on.

Beating Arsenal the key to winning the FA Cup?

As already mentioned, Arsenal are experts at winning this competition. Their history in the FA Cup could make Saturday's game tougher than expected for City but victory would not be without great reward. In fact, each of the last eight sides to beat Arsenal at this stage of the competition have gone on to lift the trophy, a run that stretches back to 1907. Pep Guardiola's side are expected to win no matter who they face of the four remaining sides but history would add up in their favour if they can eliminate the Gunners.

Is there any chance Arsenal defeat City?

Arsenal's recent head-to-head record with City is a bad one. The Gunners have lost each of their last seven encounters with City by an aggregate scoreline of 2-20. Against only Leeds, on two occasions, have Arsenal lost more consecutive games against in their history than City. They picked up a confidence-boosting win over Premier League champions Liverpool in midweek but head into Saturday's clash as huge underdogs. Their last win over Pep Guardiola's side, however, came at this stage of the FA Cup back in 2017. Arsenal battled back from 1-0 down to beat City 2-1 before defeating Chelsea, who are in the other side of the draw, in the final.

Aubameyang draws blanks against City

With the odds stacked against Arsenal, supporters will obviously be hoping their big name players come in clutch to pull off a major upset. Arsenal fans will clearly look no further than Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, their top scorer in 2019/20. Aubameyang has scored 23 goals in all competitions this season, almost double the figure managed by any other Arsenal player. He has been a goalscoring machine ever since he made his Arsenal debut back in February 2018. In fact, only Mohamed Salah (54) has scored more Premier League goals than Aubameyang (52) in that time. However, the chances of Aubameayng scoring on Saturday are not high if recent history is anything to go by. Aubameyang has failed to find the back of the net in all six of his previous encounters with Pep Guardiola's side, his longest run against an English side without ever scoring.

Well-rested De Bruyne to take centre stage

While much of the talk has been about Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson being named PFA Player of the Year, at least most supporters in the Premier League realise the division's best player this season has actually been Kevin De Bruyne. The Belgium international is the best WhoScored rated player in the Premier League by a distance (7.88), with 29 goals and assists in 33 league appearances. Pep Guardiola rested his star man in midweek in order to have him firing on all cylinders on Saturday. And against Arsenal, De Bruyne really does turn it on. In fact, the 29-year-old has scored more goals against Arsenal than any other team in his career (5), netting in each league meeting with the Gunners this season. Now placed on spot-kick duty, there is even greater chance of De Bruyne adding to his tally, particularly with David Luiz in defence for Arsenal. The Gunners have conceded the second most penalties in the Premier League this season (7), with Luiz guilty of four of those.

Goals to fly in early

In order for Arsenal to defeat City they are going to have to be defensively perfect plus a lot of luck on their side. In many ways they are the perfect big club for City to play. Defensively all over the place, they are easy pickings for City and their recent head-to-head record emphasises just that. While Mikel Arteta has improved things at the back for Arsenal, it is still a big ask for David Luiz and Skhodran Mustafi to stay completely wired in to the constantly moving City forwards. In two of the last three meetings between the two sides City have been ahead with no more than 120 seconds played. In six of their last seven meetings they have scored first before the 20th-minute. An early goal is certainly on the cards for City.